Editorial: Monday briefing

We don’t know if it was just a bad day for President Barack Obama last week or if he really understood the absurdity of his statement from a meeting with Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang.

According to reports, the president said: “We discussed the fact that Ho Chi Minh was actually inspired by the U.S. Declaration of Independence and Constitution, and the words of Thomas Jefferson.”

We prefer this response from former Vietnam/Hanoi Hilton POW and U.S. Rep. Sam Johnson, R-Texas, from the Dallas Morning News: “Let me tell you, there was nothing ‘free’ about my seven years in captivity in Hanoi ... ”

History will never know the exact number of dead because of the brutal reign of Ho Chi Minh, who has more in common with other murderous dictators than America’s founding fathers.

If Ho Chi Minh even read the documents that created the greatest example of freedom the world has seen, he obviously did not comprehend their meaning.

Then again, perhaps Ho Chi Minh was “inspired” in another way — to destroy the freedoms in these cherished documents.

Stay on the sidewalk

Amarillo will be getting a facelift — a $1.5 million improvement.

This past week, the city was awarded $1.5 million from Texas Transportation Commission for downtown street improvements (City lands $1.5M beauty grant, July 25, amarillo.com).

Center City Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone will also kick in more than $300,000 — another sign things are looking up in downtown Amarillo.

The funds will be used for sidewalk improvements along several streets, including the addition of several trees and benches.

However, this money will go a long way toward addressing the many needs and improvements not always highlighted in downtown redevelopment.

Kudos to the city for obtaining the grant, which will prove important as downtown Amarillo continues its rebirth into a vibrant and strong economic area.

Rain, rain don’t go away

Not to be a weather jinx, but we’ll go ahead and say it. This summer — so far — has been a cupcake as far as Amarillo is concerned.

Sure, there have been hot days, but nothing like we’ve endured in previous summers.

And more importantly, there has been rain!

No one around these parts is building an ark, but — according to the National Weather Service — Amarillo’s precipitation total for the year is only 0.87 of an inch below normal at 10.89 inches.

Hey, we’ll take that.

To be honest, it seems most of that more than 10 inches of rain, or precipitation, has come during the summer months — and no one is complaining.

Amarillo and the Texas Panhandle are still in the grips of a drought — and we’re not going to be able to celebrate its demise any time soon — but it is still awesome to watch the clouds darken, which has happened many times this summer.